Voters approved Amendment 41 in 2006, despite complaints that it was poorly worded and had unintended consequences.

“The ethics commission is a process for evaluating ethics complaints. That didn’t exist before Amendment 41,” Polis said. “Before Amendment 41, there was no opportunity for ethics complaints. There were only internal investigations, which no one had confidence in. Now we have a truly independent commission and I think it does very important work.”

The law applies to state lawmakers, statewide elected officials and most government employees.

Jane Feldman, executive director of the ethics commission, said the commission issued the statement in response to concerns that delegates at the Republican National Convention may not have known the law applied even at the convention.

“You can take SWAG bags if they’re valued at less than $53,” Feldman said.

But what about concert tickets and meals and even a cruise? Those are some of the things to which delegates reportedly have been treated.

“If they (freebies) were a gift, they (delegates) need to know how much they’re worth,” Feldman said.

Good news all you government employees planning on receiving a gift: The $50 limit is now $53.

That’s because Amendment 41, an ethics measure pushed by now Congressman Jared Polis and approved by voters in 2006, included an inflation factor. The next adjustment won’t be for another four years.

Amendment 41, among other things, bans government employees, “including independent contractors,” from accepting gifts valued at more than $50. When it was first passed, there were concerns the children of government workers could not accept scholarships.

After the measure passed, Polis conceded it was “poorly worded but not awfully worded.”

“I regret the pain and uncertainty that this has caused, especially for students,” he said, at the time. “I regret that what the voters gave the legislature was poorly worded, but I’m hopeful that the legislature does its best to execute it in good faith.

The Denver Post’s business section reported this morning that a former state senator has filed ethics complaints against Binz and Matt Baker, another member of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, over trips they took that were paid for by outside interests.

Binz was the treasurer of the group led by now-Congressman Jared Polis that put the ethics measure on the ballot in 2006. Voters approved Amendment 41 despite criticism it was so poorly worded that some feared the children of government employees could not accept scholarships. (Even Polis would later concede there were problems.)

Binz’s role in the measure came up in 2007 when the Senate confirmed his appointment by Gov. Bill Ritter to the PUC.

An ethics commission today dismissed a complaint filed against a Democratic state senator over his living arrangements in Denver.

The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission voted 4-0 that the complaint against John Morse of Colorado Springs was “groundless.”

Morse has maintained from the start that the complaint was bogus and part of a Republican strategy to boot him from office. Morse, who first was elected to the Senate in 2006, is running for re-election in November.

“I sit in a seat in the heart of Republican country,” he said today.

“When the Republicans were driving this country into the ground, the people of Colorado Springs saw fit to elect me to office. Republicans know darn good and well I’ve been one of the most effective legislators from this district and the only way to remove me from office is to lie, cheat and steal.”

Morse’s living arrangements drew attention after a Fox News feature about lawmakers and living in Denver during the session. Morse said on camera he rented the place from a friend for $500.

Brandon O’Dell, a Republican and a 25-year-old graduate student at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, filed the ethics complaint in March. He said Morse accepted something of value greater than $50, which was outlawed when voters in 2006 approved Amendment 41.

O’Dell at the time declined to provide information about what led him to file the complaint, who researched it and who wrote it, except to repeatedly cite unnamed “friends.”

Morse said then that there was no way his situation amounted to an Amendment 41 violation. He rents a condo at Brooks Tower owned by his friend, Bill Mead of Colorado Springs. Morse, a former police chief, said he has known Mead for 31 years, and in 1979 roomed with Mead and Mead’s brother, whom he he met in EMT school.

Morse said he uses one bedroom and leaves on weekends, when Mead usually comes to Denver. Morse also said Mead allows other friends to drop by and stay throughout the week. One guest once stayed for two months.

Morse said today he considered the ethics complaint so flimsy he didn’t even bother to hire an attorney.

Lobbying makes strange bedfellows. One day you’re with someone on a bill, the next day you’re on opposite sides. That’s why Ted Trimpa made his famous sticky buns.

Trimpa represents EnCana and Noble, which have been involved in a natural gas bill for more than a year. Trimpa is lobbying on behalf of the measure, House Bill 1365, which promotes natural-gas electricity at the expense of coal.

Opposing it is fellow lobbyist and long-time friend Dianna Orf, who represents the Colorado Mining Association. The association contends the bill will severely reduce the use of affordable coal-based electricity on Colorado’s Front Range, causing a “massive spike” in energy prices for Colorado families and businesses.

A Colorado Springs resident claims a state senator who is paying only $500 a month rent for a swanky downtown Denver condo is violating the state’s confusing ethics laws.

A complaint filed Wednesday with the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission says that Sen. John Morse accepted something of value greater than $50, which was outlawed when voters in 2006 approved Amendment 41.

Morse, a Colorado Springs Democrat and the Senate majority leader, said he had no idea a complaint has been filed but argues he’s done nothing wrong.

“That is nonsense. There is no way this is an Amendment 41 violation.”

The complaint was filed by Brandon O’Dell, a Republican and a 25-year-old graduate student at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. O’Dell declined to provide information about what led him to file the complaint, who researched it and who wrote it, except to repeatedly cite unnamed “friends.”

Morse’s living arrangements drew attention after a Fox News feature last month about lawmakers and living in Denver during the session. Morse said on camera he rented the place from a friend for $500.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.